The Chronomancer Saga Pt 3 Choices never made
by Nocturnis
Summary: Note: This story takes place shortly after the Interlude episode of Buffy and the Epiphany episode of Angel. A mysterious stranger who can control time arrives in Sunnydale after a vision from Cordeila sends the whole A-Team to meet with The Scoobies. Soon after, they all found themselves being used as pawns in the stranger's


Note: This story takes place shortly after the Interlude episode of Buffy and the Epiphany episode of Angel.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: A mysterious stranger who can control time arrives in Sunnydale after a vision from Cordeila sends the whole A-Team to meet with The Scoobies. Soon after, they all found themselves being used as pawns in the stranger's game of temporal chess. Because of the constant abuse of time and reality our hero's found them-selves comatose and trapped in realities that are not their own,

Angel found himself in the lobby of the Hyperion with a confused look on his face. The last thing he remembered was being at The Chronomancer's mercy (the guy really hated the vampire's guts for some reason) only to be saved by Xander of all people. _Great the jerk sent me back to L.A. _Using his vampire speed he quickly jumped over the desk and phoned the magic box.

"Hello magic box, how can we get money from you?" the familiar sound of Anya's voice answered the phone.

"Anya its Angel is everybody ok?" there was a small pause by the phone.

"Oh hi, yeah everybody's fine, I mean sure the mayor tried to coerce Willow to the dark side and we have a hell god breathing down our necks but otherwise everything's fine." She said with an impatient tone of voice. Angel started pacing with the receiver not fully sure he heard the former vengeance demon correctly.

"I'm sorry did you say the mayor tried to turn Willow evil? Do you guys have another evil mayor?"

"Nope it's the same one as before. Nice smile, short blond hair, invulnerable." He could feel a headache coming on when he saw Cordeila calmly walking down the stairs.

"Cordy The Chronomancer sent you back too?" Cordeila just looked at him with a confused look.

"Who," The brunette asked giving the vampire a quizzical look.

"The Chronomancer you know time jumping Phantom of The Opera type." He responded as Cordeila kept looking at him strangely.

"Never heard of him is he on file?" she asked walking to the filing cabinet.

"What do you mean never heard of him? We were just in Sunnydale trying to keep him from messing up reality." She stopped and turned to him.

"Angel we haven't been in Sunnydale since the big graduation battle." She said looking at him sympathetically. "Remember big fight that we won letting Buffy go to collage and allowing Faith to go back to have a normal childhood minus the slaying with Buffy's mom." It was Angel's turn to look at Cordeila like she was crazy.

"Faith is staying with Joyce now?" Angel slowly began to realize this wasn't his LA.

It wasn't the first time Riley Finn found him-self separated from his unit. But unless he was seeing things he was on a dorm room floor watching a demonic Willow kicking Buffy around like a soccer ball.

"Please Willow don't do this." Buffy pleaded to the she-demon. Riley shook his head trying to get his bearing. Getting up he charged at the demon that was once Willow.

"Stay out of this Sergeant White bread." Willow said redirecting his momentum to a nearby couch with a wave of her hand.

"Hey watch it!" a familiar and annoyed voice blurted out. Riley looked up to see Anya sitting there calmly watching the fight.

"Anya what's going on?" Riley asked still confused over the scenario playing in front of him.

"It's Anyanka and what do you mean what's going on? I'm just watching that upstart take over my job." The vengeance demon said very angrily.

Tara blinked her eyes not sure where she was at the moment where ever she was it looked like a waiting room. It had a beautiful leather couch with a very good selection of Wicca magazines sitting on a very tasteful lacquered coffee table.

"Hello is ther, ther, there anybody here?" she said getting annoyed with her nervous stammer.

"Hello Miss Maclay I hope that you're comfortable." A middle-aged man with gray hair greeted her.

"Where am I?" she asked thinking of a spell to use in case the man became violent.

"Well that all depends on what you mean by where you are? Physically you are in your reality's magic box. But in this reality I'm afraid things have kind of hit a little snafu." The man said sounding like a businessman.

"What kind of snafu?" Tara asked

"Well I'm afraid this, realities Tara Maclay had her heart cut out by the Gentlemen. So you really have no place for your soul to transfer to."

"But I have to get back The Chronomancer has Oz and Angel." She yelled out.

"Well actually no, he doesn't his temporal tampering has mixed with yours causing kind of a reality shuffle at the moment. All your friends are also trapped in different realities." He said not losing his calm demeanor. Tara however was beyond calm.

"Well we have to do something. We can't just stand here while our friends are in danger."

"Your friends' Miss. Maclay. Not ours." The stranger said in a polite yet detached manner.

"I don't care we still have to do something." She said sounding more confident.

"You are not accomplished enough to bend reality to your whim yet. But if you're willing to take the chance there might be something you can do." He said pulling out a cell phone.

"What?" she asked desperately. The stranger smiled at her.

"How good are you with astral projection?"

"Miss Edith has been very naughty she will have no cakes today." The familiar and insane voice of his sire and former love caught his attention.

"Dru is that you?" Spike asked preparing for a fight. The last time they met they didn't leave under the best of circumstances. And they left with an even worse connection to each other than last time. Now Spike found himself sitting on a bed in a posh hotel. "What the bloody hell?" he muttered to himself. Before he could contemplate any further Drusilla came into the bedroom dressed in a blood red teddy.

"Miss Edith has been put to bed with all the other dollies. And there so much fire in the streets I can feel it inside me so warm and bright." Spike was too stunned by the teddy to react as Drusilla walked to him in a seductive manner.

"Dru, pet what's going on?" he was finally able to stammer out.

"It's a party and everyone is invited." She whispered in his ear "Shh we don't want our guests to know too early." She suddenly stopped and started looking around.

"What, what is it?" Spike said still confused about what was going on.

"Someone is watching us; some naughty story teller is watching us." Quickly she pulled Spike to his knees and whispered in his ear "but she's confused the story not being told like it's supposed to be."

Anyanka watched the couple in the hotel room. And the crazy vampress was right she was confused. For the first thing the story was supposed to be in Sunnydale not in Boston, second Spike and Drusilla weren't supposed to be even in the story and third of all why did she feel bad about all the mayhem that was taking place in front of her. _Because I'm not a vengeance demon anymore, I'm not supposed to be one any way. _But the mortal woman known as Anya once again found herself a vengeance demon. The last thing she remembered was fighting with Cordeila in a church surrounded by vampires and now she was once again a vengeance demon only this time she didn't feel the need for vengeance anymore. Instead the only thing she needed was Xander seeing no real reason to watch Spike and his ex she instead teleported to find Xander.

Giles was back in his house after The Oracle's apparently teleported him but there was no sign of Gunn. He quickly searched his house but still there was no sign of the young man he traveled back in time with. Giles quickly went to the phone and called Buffy.

"Hello." A familiar but frantic voice answered the phone.

"Willow is that you? What's wrong?" Giles asked the excited young girl.

"Well for one thing my best friend just kissed me on the lips!" Giles nearly dropped the receiver.

"Buffy kissed you?" Giles asked trying to keep himself from getting flabbergasted.

"No not Buffy, Xander and he just told me that we're engaged and I have the ring to prove it."

"What but what about Tara?" Giles said putting his head to his temple.

"That's what really got me freaked, nobody knows she exists."

"Alright I'll be right over." Giles heard a pause on the phone. "Willow what is it?"

"Xander's on his way over to do some training."

"What!" Giles yelled out as his doorbell chimed.

Willow hung up the receiver still somewhat shocked at the events that had transpired. She hadn't told Giles the complete story but she was starting to suspect that she was an alternate reality. Finding herself in the shower lip locked to a very naked Xander was her first major clue. But she figures Giles already knew to much about their sex lives to need to know the details of her freak out. She nearly slipped in the shower when she saw what was happening. The arms that caught were more muscular then she remembered.

"Will what's wrong?" his voice asked full of concern and compassion.

"This us, kissing, naked!" she blurted out trying to form a coherent sentence. Xander looked at her very confused. He gently let her go and she quickly got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself. "Just stay there."

"Will what's the big deal its not like we haven't seen each other naked before.

"We were six years old then!" she blurted out. Again Xander looked at her confused. "What are we doing what about Tara and Anya?"

"Who," The naked young man asked. "Will what's going on you ask your fiancé to scrub your back after a hard day of training and then go all twilight zone on me"

"Fiancé," Willow asked finding it hard to believe her ears. Willow quickly ran into the nearest bedroom only to find Dawn writing in her diary.

"Hey Will what's going on?" Dawn asked her with a little flush in her face.

"Hey Dawnie have you seen Tara or Anya around?"

"Who," Dawn answered looking just as confused as Xander did.

That had been about fifteen minutes ago and Willow was now in the kitchen still shaking.

"Is everything ok?" Xander asked her coming into the kitchen his hair still wet. Willow didn't know how to react just seeing him she knew that she wasn't her Xander. This Xander seemed more confident definitely more muscular then the Xander she knew. This Xander seemed more like the confident half when he was split in half by Toth.

"I'm fine it was just a little physic back wash from a spell I did earlier. Look I'm not much for shower fun right now."

"Anything I can do?" he asked the love showing in his eyes.

"No, I just need some alone time right now." She said putting on her best ok face the one she used to use when Xander was devoting his affection to other girls.

"Well I'm going to do some more training with Giles." He kissed her gently on the cheek and left. She nearly jumped when the phone rang.

After she hung up she felt a little better it was a relief to find about someone else thought that this world wasn't theirs and that she hadn't gone crazy after all. But now the question was how they were going to get back home.

_Home, how did I get here? _Dawn thought shaking her head. The last thing she remembered was Willow and her in the past trying to keep her skanky counterpart from killing anybody at The Bronze only to be told by some cute stranger that they were being tricked and weren't really supposed to be there. Now she found herself back in her bedroom sleeping in her comfortable bed. She quickly got up and got dressed.

"Buffy?" she said knocking on her sisters door only to find her in bed and not alone.

"Dawn? What's wrong kiddo?" Riley asked her attempting to cover up as much as possible. Dawn turned to look at Buffy who seemed to look just as confused as she was.

_Whose arm is this? Where are my clothes? _Buffy thought to herself as she looked around her dark bedroom to find the arm connected to Riley Finn.

"Riley?" she asked in complete astonishment it was him he was back. _Or maybe he hasn't left yet. Maybe I've been sent back into the past. _She hesitated not wanting to disturb him _Oh how I missed you _she thought to herself. She cuddled next to him knowing that she had a job to do. _But a couple of minutes won't cause any more damage _she decided that was when Dawn burst in. Riley quickly sat up from the bed covering up quickly.

"Dawn? What's wrong kiddo?" Dawn turned to look at Buffy who seemed to look just as confused as she was. The Slayer sighed like it or not break time was over.

A short time later the two Summers' sisters and Riley were talking in the bedroom.

"Buffy this isn't where we belong."

"I know Dawn this is the past. The time travel spell must have gone a little quirky."

"No I mean this place doesn't feel right. I don't know how else to explain it but it feels like the wrong place." Dawn said sounding very calm. Buffy didn't know what to make of the situation she knew that the teenager in front of her wasn't really her sister but some extra dimensional energy source known as The Key. And that Glory wanted her because of it. But she didn't know if Dawn had any special powers or anything. So far she hadn't exhibited anything that made her truly unique but now she was telling them that they were in the wrong place. She knew she couldn't dismiss this as teenage paranoia.

"What time travel spell?" Riley asked reminding the two of them that he was still there.

"Riley I know this is going to sound weird but what can you tell me about us, about my friends, about my enemies anything would be helpful." Riley looked at Buffy not sure what to make about this line of questioning. "Riley, please!" Buffy said looking at him with fierce desperation.

"Are you sure we should discuss this in front of Dawn Agent Summer?" He said sounding as covert ops as he could.

"I'm sorry Agent Summers?" Dawn asked shocked.

"I thought you told…" Riley stopped when he saw the shocked look on Buffy's face. "Oh boy you really don't remember what's going on. Lets see were to begin we met fell in love you learned that I was a member of what used to be The Initiative before we blew it up to stop Adam."

"We blew up the Initiative?" Buffy asked still looking confused. Riley sighed, "Alright let's start from the beginning."

"Ouch!" Oz muttered getting up he was surprised to find himself sleeping in his van. "Okay." He said shaking his head not quite sure what to think. The last thing he remembered was being with Tara just before Angel went flying down an elevator shaft. They both found themselves confronted by the Chronomancer. Someone knocking on his van interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey Oz you alive in there?" a voice said dragging him out of the darkness. He opened the door to see the vaguely familiar face of Amy banging on the door.

"Amy?" he asked groggily.

"Did you fall asleep on duty? Oh man Oz Wesley's really going to let you hear it." Oz shook his head to clear the cobwebs out.

"Amy what's going on?" Oz asked the young witch.

"The vamps are on the move, god how long have you been out?" Oz soon became aware that the sun was still out.

"It's still daylight."

"Yeah well not in the sewer tunnels come on Faith and Graham are already there." Oz watched as Amy opened the passenger side door and jumped in.

"You coming?" she asked impatiently. Not sure of what else to do he jumped into the driver's side door and started the engine.

"Where are we going anyway?" he asked her still confused.

"Are you high or something?"

"Or something," Oz answered back. Amy shook her head still not clear on what was going on. "I think I'm trapped in an alternate reality."

_Where am I? _Gunn thought to himself as he looked around. He was in a fairly nice apartment sitting on top of a queen-sized bed.

"Well good morning." He heard a sweet voice call to him. He turned to see a slender white brunette smiling at him.

"Hey." He responded still confused about his location. Wherever he was it was a nice comfortable place. And it was nice to see a normal colored person standing in front of him. But his comfort was soon replaced by anxiety when the stranger draped her arms around him. He suddenly jumped away from her. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Charles what's wrong?" the slender brunette asked him with a look of concern.

"Am I dead?" he asked with a serious expression that softened slightly when he looked at the girl in front of him. "Are you an angel?" the brunette smiled a little at him.

"Flatterer; you always know what to say to make a girl feel appreciated," She responded getting off the bed.

"Where is this place, where's Giles?" he asked more calmly. But the brunette seemed confused by his line of questioning.

"This is our new place Charles we just moved in together last week. And I have no idea who Giles is."

"Our new place, since when can I afford this?"

"We can afford this because you're the best security chief and I'm the best head of research that our employer has." She said still standing closer than Gunn felt comfortable with. Strangely enough he felt strangely attracted to her. But then he was always attracted to the brainy types. And she was clearly attracted to him as she draped her arms around his neck and began a slow dance with him.

"Security chief, you don't say?" He asked with a sly grin on his face. And you are Miss?"

"I am Misses Winifred Gunn as of three months two days and seven hours ago." She said clearly thinking this was some strange game. Before Gunn could ask any more questions he was drawn into a very passionate kiss.

Spike woke up to find himself on a cot in a small little room with boarded over windows.

"Bloody hell," He said massaging his head. He quickly checked the door and saw that it wasn't locked. The last thing he remembered was some strange bloke paralyzing him and transporting him here before he could get the gem of amarra. And he was determined to get some payback. Stepping out of the room he could now see the he was in a huge warehouse. He saw a man just sitting in a chair waiting for him.

"Well isn't this just dandy." He said with a grin on his face as he approached the man.

"Hello Spike?" the stranger said with a British accent. "Permit me to introduce myself my names Rayne, Ethan Rayne."

Angel woke only to find him-self strapped to a chair.

"Cordeila, Wesley." He called out "Its ok I'm Angel again."

"Well we can't have that now; can we?" A very familiar voice asked from the shadows.

"Buffy?" Angel blurted out confused. The slayer approached him, walking a slow seductive walk. The vampire with a soul shook the cobwebs out of his head to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The last thing he remembered was Wesley pushing him down the elevator shaft. And now he found himself chained to a chair being approached by the slayer. "Buffy it's me, it's Angel!" he said in a pleading voice.

"Oh I know." She said suddenly sitting on his lap. Before he could say anything else she stuck her tongue down his throat. The kiss was different, it was Buffy he was sure of it, she smelled the same but the kiss was strangely different. Usually when they kissed there was passion between the two them. This time though there was nothing but lust.

"Hello lover." She said breaking the kiss.

"Buffy?" Angel gasped making it sound more like a question. She smiled and went for seconds but the vampire quickly turned his head. She frowned at him.

"I guess we have to do this the hard way." She shrugged her shoulders and jammed a needle into his shoulder. Angel let out a quick yell of pain as the needle penetrated his skin. Buffy just stood and watched as a glazed look started to form in the vampire's eye. He was confused, he was tied up and just had a needle shoved into his shoulder by the woman who loved him, so why did he feel good? In fact he felt happy despite what was happening, very happy. A chuckle started to form in his throat it slowly turned into a loud evil laugh.

"Happy now," Buffy asked as she approached him. Confused and still bound all Angelus could do was watch as Buffy unzipped his pants. "I'll take that as a yes." She said as she straddled him.

Xander also woke up and found himself in a dark room. He rolled off the cot and started sniffing the air. A familiar scent was close by.

"Willow." He said and started giggling. She was close, very close. He started to track the scent. It was strange it was Willow but she smelled differently, like death. He turned the corner in the hallway. The room in front of him looked like a dungeon. There were chains and whips everywhere. He also saw a young woman dressed like a dominatrix. She was dressed in very tight looking leather outfit. The strange thing was she looked like Willow. She turned and had a surprised look on her face when she saw him.

"Xander you're alive." She said throwing her arms around his waist a second later she grabbed his buttocks.

"Whoa, that's unexpected." Xander commented. Willow looked up at him a look of disgust on her face.

"Oh you're alive." She was about to let go when his strong hands grabbed her wrists.

"What's your rush?" Xander asked her in a predatory voice as he squeezed her wrists.

"Ow! You're hurting me." She cried out as he pulled her closer to him. She whispered into his ear "Do it some more." Xander grinned and pushed her down on the floor. Then he got on all fours and started to slowly crawl after her. To his surprise she looked more amused then scared. This was definitely not his Willow; she was older for one thing, more powerful and attractive to his senses and definitely sexier. She smiled as he pounced on her tearing at her outfit.

"You animal," She squealed in pleasure as their most basic instincts took over.

"How disgusting," Anyanka commented as she watched both the pairings involved in carnal pleasures. The Chronomancer just watched clearly not happy with what Faith was doing in Buffy's body.

"Yes it is," he muttered though made no move to stop their actions.

"It never lasts you know, oh sure their getting all hot and sweaty now, but soon the men get bored and find another woman then its nothing but heartbreak and vengeance.

"I don't think they're planning picket fences and grandkids anyhow." The masked man replied.

"Well of course not three of them are walking corpses." She commented.

"None the less I think we better break them up." He sighed as he faded from the pocket dimension he was observing his new allies from.

Back at The Magic Box Whistler and Conner where sitting at a table keeping a close watch on the bodies that they arranged more comfortably in the training room. The bodies of Willow, Dawn, Buffy, Spike, Xander, Angel, Giles, Gunn, Wesley, and Riley had all been accounted for. Somehow most of them had been returned to their proper time while Conner was getting Willow and Dawn. So he sat and waited with Whistler.

"Oh hell this isn't good." A young man in his twenties commented as he entered the room.

"No Doyle it isn't." Whistler commented as others came to join them. A brunette in her mid thirties joined them she sat down and put a big bag on the table.

"Janna any way we can track where the rest of them went?" the demon asked as the gypsy kneeled on the floor next to Giles.

"I'll see what I can do but I'm telling you now this doesn't look good."

"When does it ever?" a younger woman asked entering the room. She was in her twenties with flowing brown hair and a confident stride. Beside her was the last of the group he was a slender young man with short brown hair. He had a scar on his left eye.

"Ben, Bethany so glad you can join us." Whistler commented. You know this isn't going to be easy. We aren't allowed to directly interfere with this reality so the only way to get them back is to find them wherever they are and guide them back. So you find them and give them this." He handed each one of them a small medallion with the image of a glowing arch way on it. "This will allow their soul to return back to their bodies."

"Ssh! I'm trying to concentrate." Janna chastised them as she drew a symbol on the floor. She pulled her bag to her and looked into the bag. She smiled as she removed a purple crystal. "Alright now we're in business." The others watched quietly as she started to chant in Romanian, The crystal started to glow brighter and brighter. She motioned for them to come closer to her. "Everyone put your hands on the crystal and prepare for a strange feeling. A bright flash filled the shop and suddenly there was only an unconscious Janna.

"Ugh this is the worse." Cordeila complained as she looked into the mirror. "How does Angel put up with this?" she asked in frustration as she turned away from the mirror. Behind her a confused Xander wasn't sure to comfort her or try to stake her. He was surprised to find out that some how his ex-girlfriend had been turned into a vampire. But looking into her eyes he could see the spark that was Cordeila.

"So you don't remember anything?" he asked her pocketing a crucifix just in case.

"I told I remember rolling around on a church floor with your girlfriend surrounded by vampires. Then Buffy came bursting in. The next thing I know is I'm an undead skank. How about you?" she asked Xander.

"I was having some drunk time with Angel when we were confronted by The Chronomancer. I found myself playing Angel's advocate and then poof I'm suddenly here in an old nightmare." Xander noticed that she was looking at his neck very intensely. "Ah Cord are you feeling hungry right now?"

"We better find some answers fast." Cordeila replied sounding equally as worried.

"Hello Xander, when did you show up in L.A?" Wesley asked fearing he had been sent into some strange version of the past.

"A couple of months before you did remember?" Xander replied still smiling.

"Of course refresh my memory when exactly was that?" Wesley asked the blissful looking couple.

"Last year. Are you ok Wes?" Cordeila said looking confused about the line of questioning.

"I'm fine, just had a rough night that's all." Wes replied. Xander looked even more confused.

"You didn't drink that much Wes. And you did end up leaving with that blonde."

"Blonde?" Before any more questions could be Angel came down the stairs.

"Good morning everyone how is everyone this morning?" the vampire asked looking really uncomfortable. The discomfort was increased when Xander and Cordeila turned away from the vampire.

"We're doing fine I guess." Wesley replied sounding unsure.

"Well that's good, it was a good party last night wasn't it?" he asked still looking nervous. But Cordeila and Xander still ignored him. It took the former Watcher only a minute to realize what was going on. _This is shortly after I was put in charge of Angel Investigations, but I definitely don't remember Xander being part of the team. _He played back everything that happened in his mind. He and Riley went back in time to stop a being called The Chronomancer. He referred to his scheme as just a game before sending him and Reilly back to there timeline. _"Or at least I thought that was the plan," _Wesley thought to himself. But it was clear that this wasn't Wesley's current time line, or his current reality.

"Hey Wes you okay?" Angel asked sounding as sincere as he could. The vampire was obviously in the dog house with all of them for some reason or other.

"How bad was it this time?" Wesley asked Angel.

"Oh come on Wes do we really have to go over this I told you guys I am very sorry about what happened."

"How bad," Wesley asked giving his best cranky eyebrow.

"I went undercover in Wolfram and Hart without telling anyone. By doing so I almost got myself killed, I insulted a man whom I've grown to respect, I hurt the feelings of a woman I've come to care for very deeply and I roughed you up. And in the end Lilah told me she knew that I wasn't Angelus but wanted to see how far I was willing to go with the charade." He took a deep breath and continued. "So in the end all I did was hurt my friends, give Wolfram and Hart access to some of our case files and ok I kind of slept with Lilah." Wesley nearly choked when he heard the last part.

"Yes, well you can see why everyone's upset with you Angel. We're supposed to be a team that means we have to trust one another. What you did was reckless and selfish. I am in charge and what you did showed that you have no respect for my new position, I'm sure Xander was happy to get another good bruise from you, and Cordeila well I can only imagine how hard your going to have to work to atone for what you did to Cordeila. And let's face it you slept with the most detestable human being that we've had the displeasure to meet. So you are going to have to work really hard to atone for what you have done."

"I sang in public at Caritas three times. What more can I do to show my sincerity?" the vampire asked sounding desperate.

"I'm sure given time Cordeila will come up with something." Wesley said walking to his office. He didn't want to say anything else to Angel until he was certain of all the details.

"Ok so it's a safe guess that Wesley isn't here either." Angel said while doing his best not to seem crazy in front of Cordeila.

"No, Wesley is Faith's watcher. And Giles is enjoying his time as a gentleman of leisure." Cordeila responded.

"In other words he still unemployed."

"That's all of it in a nutshell. Where's Doyle already? I hope he's not embarrassing himself in a bar again. Angel, are you O.K." Cordeila asked the reality-displaced vampire. But Angel didn't answer hearing that his friend was still alive shocked the vampire.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." The familiar Irish accent nearly caused the vampire to jump out of his skin.

"Doyle?" Angel asked in a choked voice.

"What gives boss? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Buffy kicked the demon that used to be Willow in the head.

"Willow you have to stop." Buffy pleaded with her.

"Stop," Willow asked looking at Buffy with blood red eyes. "I'm just getting started." She quickly charged into Buffy. The Slayer sidestepped the charge and was caught by a surprise backhand. Riley jumped off the couch and ran to his ex's defense.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Anya said as she watched him charge the demon.

"Some people just don't listen." Willow sighed as she suddenly disappeared. A sharp blow to his back informed Riley that she had teleported behind him. He cursed while hitting the floor.

"Told you," Anya said as she watched the battle on the coach. The young couple quickly got back on their feet and prepared for another round.

"Well guys I would like to say this has been fun, but I'm really busy these days. You know how it is, new job and all." Willow said sounding really condescending. Before the two of them could mount another attack she disappeared.

"Well that was really disappointing, couldn't you have at least cut one of her limbs off." Anyaka said disgusted before she teleported away herself.

"Crap!" Buffy yelled kicking a trashcan. "Willow's mojo was just starting to be a handful but now that it's been mixed with vengeance demon mojo she's way more than a handful." Riley just nodded silently. He knew that she wasn't his Buffy and that definitely wasn't his Willow. He could never imagine Willow being so powerful, or hurting her friends the way she was.

"What happened to her?" Riley asked hoping that he wasn't supposed to know what was going on in.

"I can't believe that she went this far." Buffy said collapsing on the couch clearly emotionally drained. "I mean I know she cursed Oz and Veruca but we still saved them. I never thought she would go this far with her magic." Buffy told him. She was clearly in shock.

"She became a vengeance demon." He had heard how Anya was once a vengeance demon and how she exercised her wrath on men who caused their women the need for vengeance. But to see Willow actually putting Anyaka's job at risk was just too strange even for him. "I'm sorry." Riley whispered to her. He pulled her close and unlike his Buffy this one allowed him to comfort her. It felt good to be allowed to comfort her even though it also felt strange and awkward.

"So what do you want to do about this?"

"We have to stop her before she does something she'll really regret." Buffy said regaining her composure. We better find her before she does something really bad to Warren." Before he could stop her she headed out the door. The soldier instinct quickly kicked in and he followed her out the door.

The room was quiet, too quiet for Tara's liking. She liked to hear something in the background even during her spells. But she needed complete silence if she was going to reach the others that were trapped. The only problem was that she was only going to be able to contact one of them. She wasn't even sure which one of the group of travelers she was going to be able to contact. She remembered what the strange gentleman told her.

"This kind of temporal tampering can have lasting repercussions, even if you do repair the damage, there is no telling if it will manifest in another way."

_But I can't let that discourage me._ She thought to herself. She took a deep breath and tried to let her mind completely relax. She couldn't allow random thoughts to cloud her concentration. This was going to be tricky enough because basically she was going to make a really long distance phone call. The gentleman told her that the cell phone he left with her would allow her to communicate with anyone. She let her mind clear and started to focus on the one person that was trapped in this reality with her. The good news was she didn't have to know who it was. All she really had to do was project herself out of her body and allow herself to be swept towards their cross dimensional essence. She started to feel a tingling sensation wash over her and soon she felt whatever was left over of her essence go into the cell phone.

"Bloody hell I'm in Boston." Spike muttered as he walked the streets. He waited until sundown, which wasn't easy because of Drusilla's advances. She was really confused that Spike was turning down her advances.

"Not now luv I have a headache." Was all Spike could think to tell her. He was still thinking about the Slayer and it was driving him crazy. She was driving him crazy, how could he be attracted to her, how could the sight and smell of her get his blood boiling the way it did? It made no sense; he didn't know what to make of it. One day he's ready to blow her head off with a high-powered rifle, and a couple of days later he's saving her from killer snot demon from outer space. He spent every waking moment thinking of her, sometimes about killing her, sometimes about turning her and sometimes he thought about taking her. But it was always her everyday in someway or another she found some way to get into his thoughts. Even now he was doing some time traveling and ending up in parallel universes for her. He was in a world were vampires and demons were slowly beginning to run things, he had Dru back everything was the way it should have been before The Slayer got involved. A sudden thought suddenly struck him the world was the way it should have been.

"A human, I need to find a bloody human." He said with a new sense of excitement.

"Oh, I missed being able to do that." Anya sighed as she found herself in Sunnydale. She wasn't really surprised to see that the streets were deserted. In this reality The Slayer never came to Sunnydale for awhile which meant the master was able to escape his prison and the vampires quickly took over Sunnydale. The first time she was in this reality was because Cordeila made a wish. This time she was here because a Chronomancer sent her and Xander's friends all over the place dimensionally. And since she was a demon again she hypothesized that her soul or essence or whatever was sent into this Anya's body. It was strange the last time she was here she was gleeful about the damage she caused. True it was her calling to give spurned women the vengeance they craved. But she was still a demon, which basically meant causing pain and suffering was a great feeling. Now however she was a mortal in a demon version of her body. A familiar couple began walking down the street. She knew they were vampires and that they were completely different from the people that she used to know. He was Xander but not the sweet, compassionate and somewhat insecure man she had come to fall in love with. No, this Xander was cruel sadistic and very much involved with the vampire woman next to him. The woman next to him was not the sweet, somewhat snarky and condescending Willow that she had learned to tolerate. No, this Willow was still confused about her sexual orientation going back and forth between guys and girls at the drop of a hat. She was also a little crazy to boot. It made the re-demonized young woman feel uneasy. Over the years that she spent as a human she depended on Xander to take of on her at first. She had become attracted to him after prom and pursued him. He was the first man that she met in a long time that wasn't just trying to get in a woman pants. And when she bailed out during the Mayor's ascension he chose to stay behind showing loyalty that she hadn't seen in a long time. While she was on the road she thought about him, fantasized about him, worried about him, until finally she couldn't take it anymore and returned to Sunnydale to see him. She came up with a theory that the only reason she was so obsessed with him was because they hadn't consummated their relationship and that once they had sex she would quickly get over him. She had hoped that he would be lousy in bed and therefore disappoint her enough so she could leave him easily. But to her disappointment he proved to be a Viking in bed making her feel things that she hadn't felt since she became a vengeance demon. And soon she wanted it more and more she found that she couldn't get over it. The Mighty Anyaka scourge of unfaithful men, vengeance provider of women was addicted to the penis of Xander Harris. Then another strange thing happened, Xander told her he wanted more then just sex, he wanted romance, and he wanted a relationship. She had never heard a man say that before. Even Olaf never said he wanted romance. And then her addiction turned into a strange kind of passion, and that passion turned into love. She fell in love with the man and strangely enough he fell in love with her. His friends while they didn't approve of the situation did their best to accept his choice and eventually they did find themselves bonding a little. So to see them like this completely different, evil and undead was not only confusing but also painful especially since she was the reason that it happened. This world wasn't fun to her anymore. When something dawned on her, she was now a vengeance demon so popping between different realities should be a piece of cake. "But first I better see if someone else is in the same situation I'm in." she sighed knowing Xander would never forgive her if she left someone behind in this alternate reality.

"Alternate reality, fascinating," Wesley said while bandaging Faith's Ribs.

"Yeah, really thrilling," Faith replied sounding bored. "Well the next time you decide to drift off into a fantasy world wait until after work" Oz was still to surprised about the reality he was currently in to make any remarks. Unlike his reality in this reality Wesley didn't go to work for Angel instead he started his own business employing ex military man Graham, and Rouge Slayer Faith as well as re humanized Amy as well as himself. Only this Oz was more or less a cold stone of a man who mastered his werewolf abilities.

"What he's saying seems to be true." Amy said still staring at Oz. His Aura is conflicted like one half belongs and the other one doesn't."

"So does anyone have any idea how to send me back?" the young werewolf asked sounding less, stoic than usual.

"I'll have to do some research with Amy and I can't promise any positive results."

"That means no promises in non English." Amy responded with a smile.

"Two words Wes, jail bait." Faith said as Wes finished bandaging her.

"Ah yes well shall we then Amy." Wesley said. The witch and the watcher went to what seemed to be Wesley's office.

"So how different is this from your LA?" Faith asked sitting next to Oz.

"I don't know I don't work in LA."

"Still in Sunnydale then,"

"No I pretty much go wherever the wind takes me." Oz said looking around Wesley's place of business. It was an abandoned warehouse close to the docks. It was large enough to have a parking spot for the company van, as well as a training area in the back. Wesley's office was pretty much a library with a desk.

"So what about me am I still in Sunnydale?" Oz hesitated not sure how to tell Faith the truth or not."

"No last I heard you were in LA." Oz said hoping that she wouldn't bring up his reality again.

"Cool, am I still kicking butt?"

"I believe so." The Slayer looked at Oz in a peculiar way. "What?" the displaced werewolf asked.

"You're definitely different, it's like having the old Oz back again." Her comment stirred his curiosity.

"Really how so," Faith looked at him and grinned.

"You're a lot more talkative."

"Hey G-Man" the familiar voice of Xander Harris greeted Giles at the door. The stunned watcher stood there with the door open. The voice was familiar but this Xander was more muscular and stood with a more self confident stance.

"Xander," a stunned Giles responded still not sure what to make of this new Xander. From what Willow told him, the young man in front of him was there to do some training. And from the look of him he had been training with him for awhile.

"Can I come in?" the new Xander asked sounding a little impatient.

"Oh of course come in." Giles said stepping aside to allow him in. "Would you like some tea before training?" Giles asked while clearing his throat at the word training.

"I'm not here to train." Xander told him suddenly looking worried. "You told me to let you know if Willow's magic starts affecting her mind or personality." Giles was still surprised to see the Xander that he knew for close to five years suddenly transform from the loyal yet unconfident and somewhat immature young man into a confident and somewhat more mature adult.

"Um, yes so I did." Giles responded. "Well why don't you have a seat and tell me all about it."

A couple of minutes later Giles and was able to put together bits and pieces of what was going on. It was already clear that he was not in Sunnydale. More precisely he wasn't in his Sunnydale. He told Xander to tell him everything involving Willow's practicing of magic. So Xander told him the whole tale, to Giles surprise the two of them were still dating even before Willow restored Angel's soul. The only difference was Xander stayed with Willow and it was Spike of all people who saved him. It also was around that time that Xander decided to grow up after being unable to prevent Willow from being injured. Not surprisingly they never heard of Oz or Tara simply because they were too involved with each other. After Buffy left Xander and Willow demanded that Giles start training them. The work was especially hard because they had no other allies to help them. Cordeila had decided to steer clear from the strangeness of Xander Harris since he was already involved with someone and a mysterious werewolf was killed by the hunter Cain. But with a new dedication the three of them were able to do the job long enough for Buffy to return. Even after she came back Willow continued practicing magic and Xander continued training with Buffy. He was very proud of all of them being able to help Buffy and Faith take down Mr. Trick's hunters. Over the years the two of them grew closer and finally Xander proposed to Willow. With Xander watching over her Willow was cautious with her magic. Giles pondered his next move he knew the real reason for Willow's confusion but he wasn't sure if he should tell this realities Buffy what was going on until he had all the details. He wasn't even sure how they were going to get back.

Gunn couldn't remember when the last time he felt happy. It was strange but a good kind of strange. According to his wife they met when he saved her from a party of vampires. In fact it was the reason why he was hired by their benevolent employer. They also seemed to be having trouble with the undead community so Charles Gunn was the perfect choice to handle their security. At the time he just happened to be dating one of the most potent ional minds in Tran dimensional physics. According to Winifred he didn't have to be at work until tomorrow so he saw no reason to get dressed just yet.

"Still in bed?" she asked him as she came out of her study. "What would Wolf Ram and Hart think if they saw their security chief is really a lazy lump of a man?" She said to a stunned Gunn in a teasing tone of voice.

Buffy and Dawn listened as Reilly tell his tale Buffy started to realize that Dawn was right. They weren't in their Sunnydale. According to Reilly, they foiled Adam's plans for The Initiative and Buffy was recognized as a valuable ally. The government kept her as an agent and allowed her to stay in Sunnydale along with a specially selected squad of specialists. Xander was still in basic training but his field time hunting demons allowed him to accompany the squad on certain missions. Giles was also kept as an advisor on demons which suited him just fine. But the most shocking news was that Spike had left Sunnydale with Willow. Unlike her Sunnydale in this Sunnydale Spike saved Willow from The Initiative. Willow was still on the rebound from Oz and Spike was the only one who seemed to pay attention to her as well as share their pain. The squad was able to track them down but by the time they found his lair all they found was a bunch of empty beer bottles and a pair of Willow panties. There was no sign of a struggle, but Buffy was still not convinced until she returned to her dorm room to find a goodbye letter from Willow. That Buffy didn't take it well and this Buffy was also finding it hard to picture Willow and Spike.

"Since then there have been reports of a red head and Billy Idol fighting in a couple of bars but the only dead were a couple of demons and a vampire." Riley finished. Dawn and Buffy looked at each other not sure what to do.

"Well, that was twilight zoneish." Buffy said finally speaking.

"Yeah definitely not your average Sunnydale weirdness," Dawn replied. Riley just looked at them with the out of the loop look that he usually gave the old scoobies when he had no idea who they were talking about. Buffy noticed the look and almost giggled despite all the weirdness.

"Sorry sweetie but I don't know quite how to tell you this but we're not your Buffy and Dawn." Now Reilly was really giving a very confused look.

"She means that these are the bodies of your Buffy and Dawn but we're not the minds of Buffy and Dawn." Dawn interrupted trying to make things more understandable for the former soldier.

"Yeah that clears everything up," Reilly said still staring at them.

"It's a long story." Buffy said preparing to explain.

"We're from another reality." Dawn jumped in.

"Not so long." Buffy replied.

"I think I might like the longer version better." Reilly said looking really confused and concerned.

"So tell me about your team." Oz said as he held the punching bag for Faith.

"Well, you know all about how Wes gave me a chance to redeem myself and placed a glamour on me making me look different to everyone who is not on the team. He also de-ratted Amy who developed a sick little crush on him." She hit the bag hard enough to cause Oz to step back. "Than we have Graham ex agent of a top secret military unit that fights monsters he doesn't say much but I prefer a man's actions to speak louder anyway." She said with a glint in her eye. "Next, we have Lindsey former lawyer of Wolf Ram and Hart trying to redeem himself and finally we have Spike who only in it because he can't kill anything but demons and he needs the money for blood and smokes she concluded with a one two punch combination to the bag. But from your puzzled expression I see you only recognize me, Amy, and Wesley so spill what's so different about us in your world." Oz sighed and sat down

"Not much to tell, I really had no reason to stay in Sunnydale after the whole thing with Willow, but last I heard you were still in prison, Amy was still a rat and Wesley was working for Angel."

"Crappy little world you come from. You're not much different here, only you control your wolf by becoming as broody as Angel but not as articulate." Oz looked at Faith.

"Is there something between us, you keep looking at me funny." Oz asked.

"It's just like I told you we barely heard you say more than a couple a words in any given day. It's just strange to hear you talking again." Oz almost smiled as he walked over to the bag.

"You want to train some more?"

"Nah how about we get a burger?" Faith asked.

"A burger sounds good," he hesitated. "You're not looking for more trouble with those ribs are you?" The rouge slayer just shrugged and walked out the door. Oz quickly followed her cursing under his breath.

Xander and Willow were still going at on the floor when the Chronomancer and Anyanka materialized in front of them.

"I think that you kids have had more than enough fun for awhile."

"Oh we're just getting started," Xander got up hunching over. "Nice of you to bring a meal though,"

"Yes I'm quite famished." Willow said getting up but making no effort to cover up. They both advanced on them but before they could reach him The Chronomancer made Xander disappear.

"Oh where did you send my big puppy?" Willow asked unable to move.

"To make sure someone else gets fixed."

Xander appeared in front of Faith who was rubbing her panties against Angelus's stake.

"Well this is getting more and more interesting, you interested in a threesome Xander?" Angelus said with a tone of cruel amusement. To both Faith and Angelus's surprise Xander charged at them and separated them with strength that neither one new he had.

"Well someone's eating his wheaties." Angelus commented working his way free from his bindings. "Oh don't look so shocked Buff I was really curious to how far you were planning on going." Xander turned his head to see Buffy looking at him with fear in her eyes. He heard the sound of a zipper being redone and turned to see Angelus wearing his game face. Xander found himself between Angel and Buffy.

"What's this Angel you're a vampire and you need the Slayers help to deal with little me."

"Not so little," Buffy remarked.

"Well, Buffy you do get around these days don't you." Angelus said with a hint of anger in his voice. The Slayer stayed quiet as Xander looked at her with a look of lust that she had never seen from him before. She had never seen Xander like this before and she was definitely intrigued.

"Alright I'm out." Faith said shocking Angelus. She decided that it would be interesting if this new Xander could hold his own against Angelus. This Xander seemed more confident as he approached Angel still hunched over. He suddenly sprang forward faster than Angelus expected and landed a punch right on his jaw. The vampire staggered back surprised by the strength of the blow.

"That actually hurt?" Angleus said sounding annoyed. He retaliated by hitting Xander with a spinning round house kick. But the blow seemed only to enrage the young man and he shuffled over to one side and actually laughed a high pitched laugh.

"That's the best you've got?" he asked "No wonder Buffy losing interest in you." The comment enraged the vampire causing him to charge at the young man but Xander suddenly crouched causing Angelus to go right over him. And before he could recover Xander was right on top of him snarling and clawing like a wild beast.

"You know Xander I can get to like this new you." He said giving the hyena possessed young man a kick to the side. "I don't know what's gotten into you but it suits you." The two combatants circled each other.

"That will be enough," a voice said out of the darkness freezing both of the combatants. "We have much to discuss."

Anyanka watched as the mysterious figure froze time around the human hyena and Angelus. He referred to himself as The Chronomancer and told both all three of them had to behave themselves or he would send them back.

"In case you haven't figured it out each one of you is from a different point in time. I have already showed young Faith here what will eventually happen to her if she refused to cooperate, but you two well Mr. Harris you will lose the hyena that is now in you and become old weak Xander again and lose the attention of both Buffy and Willow." He than turned his attention to Angelus. His voice changed as he addressed the vampire. "And you, I'll gladly just dust before you regain your soul, besides how long do you think that drug is going to last." Angelus allowed his face to go back to normal and gave the masked man a very dark look that screamed vengeance.

"So who are you masked man?" he asked finding himself capable of moving again.

"I'm someone who does not tolerate stupidity among my soldiers. You either follow my orders or I'll dispose of you as easily as I froze you a couple of seconds ago, we all want revenge against The White Hats well I have a plan that if followed precisely not only will they die but they will suffer horribly first. All three of them developed a gleam in their eye.

"Sounds interesting, keep talking," Faith said while the others nodded in agreement with the body swapped slayer. Anyanka was also intrigued as he explained only part of his plan to the time displaced soldiers.

"This is so wicked, so we get to do the whole evil twin thing." Faith said with a sadistically gleeful tone.

"Precisely, I have careful selected each of you from a specific moment when you got to experience the thrill of darkness. Each one of you is no longer constricted by the bounds of morality and each one of you has unique abilities to contribute to the plan. And in exchange for your assistance I will make it possible for you to take over your counterparts in this year and leave you free to do whatever you will, my only interest is revenge." The Chronomancer told them with a cold smile. "Everybody wins, simple as that."

"Yes, it is pretty simple but then again that's the beauty of vengeance it's just simple." Anyanka said suddenly appearing right in front of them. "Somebody hurts you, usually male," she said giving Angelus and Xander a disdainful look, "and than you want to hurt them back but worse. And this continues until one of you is dead." She said with a smug grin.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Angelus asked looking over Anyanka.

"Everybody this is Anyanka, patron saint to the scorned and vengeful woman." The mysterious masked introduced her. The other members of our little group should be here shortly and than we can put the plan in motion.

Doyle found himself in a quiet little neighborhood at night. All the houses seemed to have mowed lawns and white mail boxes. He walked up the street and started to focus. He allowed The Powers That Be to speak through him to show him the souls that he had to bring back. He looked at the medallion and began to concentrate. Before he met The Whistler the visions felt like a red hot poker being driven into his skull. But after some intense hours of meditation he only felt a dull thud against the back of his skull when they sent him a vision. A sudden picture of a young dark haired man walking out of a butcher shop with a brown paper bag flashed into his head. He watched as he handed the bag to a provocatively dressed young woman. She was indeed attractive flowing black hair and a body that most would die for.

"I don't think I can do this Xander," Cordeila said looking at the container of blood.

"C'mon Cordy, just take a quick gulp and your instincts will take over." Xander said to her while he secretly wished he had a crucifix. Cordeila look at him strangely.

"You sound like you've done this before." Xander went red as he realized once again he let the cat out of the bag regarding his hyena experience.

"Well I was possessed by a hyena at the time." Xander said shuffling his feet.

"And you drank pigs blood," Cordeila asked.

"Actually, a couple of us hyena people ate the school mascot raw."

"Wow, and here I thought that the reason why I drank blood last time was bad." Cordeila replied feeling more comfortable.

"You've done this before?" Xander asked looking shocked.

"Well I was pregnant at the time." Cordeila replied before putting the container to her lips. Xander was too stunned hearing about Cordeila's pregnancy to feel to repulsed about how easily she downed the container of pigs blood in her hands.

"Just like riding a bike," she said sounding a little disturbed at the ease of it all. But the hunger in her did seem to fade away for the time being.

"So now what do we do, do you think anyone else we know is here?"

"Nope it's just you two." Cordeila dropped the container as the familiar looking Irishman approached them.

"Doyle," Cordeila gasped out while Xander looked at the two of them really confused.

"Ok, so now I know we've met before," the vampress walked slowly towards him her face full of disbelief and anguish.

"It's really you, I mean you're really here," Cordeila said tears flowing from her eyes. Before he could say anymore he was being hugged by the brunette.

"I take it that you're really happy to see me," he said as Cordeila squeezed, the half demon started gasping for breath as her vampire strength started squeezing the air from him.

"Cordy, hey Cordy," the shaking of her shoulders by her ex boyfriend reminded her of the current situation. She let go of Doyle and the demon took the opportunity to take a couple of deep breaths.

"I'm sorry, it's been a long time and I've missed you so much," Cordeila said tears of joy pouring down her face. Xander cleared his throat reminding them of his presence.

"Oh I forgot, Doyle, Xander, Xander this is Doyle he's an old friend."

"I'll bet," Xander said sounding more sarcastic than usual.

"Actually I've never met you before, that was a different Doyle," the former seer said jumping straight to the point. "You're in a…"

"Alternate reality," Cordeila and Xander said at the same time.

When Buffy and Dawn stopped talking Riley looked at them with an even more confused look then before.

"So what you're telling me it that Dawn really isn't your sister but an extra dimensional energy turned into a human, and that you both are a different Buffy and Dawn from another reality but you're trapped in my reality's Buffy and Dawn bodies and you have no idea what you're doing her or how to gat back,"

"That's pretty much it," Buffy said.

"In a nutshell," Dawn concluded. Riley got up and paced around the room. Buffy was glad that they had decided to get dressed before telling anybody anything.

"Ok, I think we need to see Giles," the former initiative member told the sisters.

"He is the same Giles that we know right?" Buffy asked.

"More or less," Riley replied getting his jacket.

Oz wasn't really surprised that he ran into a pack of vampires, Faith had already dusted two of them while Oz indeed found his senses and reflexes were a lot sharper than he was really comfortable with. The werewolf dusted two vamps on his own when he smelled something, death lots of it. The vamps reinforcements had arrived and there were a lot of them. He could feel his blood boiling and the wolf inside screaming to get out. A sudden blast of electricity struck one of the vampires and a crossbow bolt dusted another one.

"Can't I go anywhere without you guys babysitting me?" Faith asked while punching one vampire in the nose.

"You're still on parole Faith," Wesley said appearing from the shadows behind him was a grim looking Graham.

"I was just looking for a little workout; I didn't know that these guys had back up."


End file.
